Rating: 
Summary: Excellent storyline, bad writers.
Review: "Torment" is the tragic tale of a man's quest for the truth to his immortallity. As with the computer game, the ending of this book left me with an unbearable sad feeling for the characters' fate. Play the game and then read the book. There are some differences between the two versions, but basically the novel is a watered-down version of the game. The game has a more gripping storyline while the book seems a bit rushed and immature (the authors made some of the main characters do some pretty unreasonable things in the story. And some events even happen without purpose to the plot).
Rating:
Summary: If you liked the game...
Review: ... you'll love the book. If you havent played the game then you won't. This book helps fill in a lot of questions re: the Nameless One and is a pleasant complement to the game. A lot of fun.
Rating:
Summary: A good Planescape romp -- fun to read
Review: All in all, this book was entertaining enough to keep me reading straight through, which is more than I can say for a lot of "better" novels (Robert Jordan, for instance...Gods! Just finish the thing, will you!!). I was pleasently surprised at the twists of the plot, I didn't guess much in advance, and it seemed to hold pretty well to the feel of the Planescape setting. Further, the irony of the punchline was well done. A great example of the truly evil machinitions of the baatezu (not just a bundle of hit points and spell abilities). I didn't really like the final, post-climactic scene, however. I thought it could have been done better, or not at all (it was a little corny, more so than the rest of these things, I mean). Perhaps it would have been better to leave Thane's fate unclear, or tell it through the others (wrap it up with Morte telling the story in Sigil; or simply end it in the Fortress and let your imagination fill in the blanks). A minor gripe, yes, but you hate that it's the final taste in your mouth. I also get a little weary of the sarcastic, clownish character that always seems to be present in these things (like the faerie in White Plume Mountain); Morte and Annah alternately fill that roll. I don't really need the witty, comic banter at every turn. At least they kept the romantic side out of the Annah/Thane connection, overtly at any rate. These plot devices get a bit formulaic in this genre, but for the most part they were subdued here. The other crutch that these novelizations seem to use is the "odd" character (a sentient hell-hound pelt? Gimme a break! The faeire was stretching it enough, in that one). This one is no different, with Morte the animated skull playing the roll. Admittedly, however, the Planescape setting is deliberately weird, so I cut this one a bit more slack. One point to note is that I have yet to play the CRPG, so I don't have any context (besides Planescape D&D) with which to compare. Others who have reviewed this seem to suggest that the plot has been simplified in the novelization. Obviously, I can't comment. I felt that the plot was complicated enough for the length and scope of the book. Having read several of the TSR adventure/module novelizations, and having been originally familiar with the adventures themselves, I can say that simplification is often required in order to fit the scope of a single novel (there just isn't enough space to tell everything). Take the Temple of Elemental Evil -- they skip huge portions of the adventure, create a storyline that eliminates entire levels of the dungeon, and gets the characters to all the good parts, just in time to wrap it up in a novel. That's OK. The great thing about actually playing D&D is that no storyline is ever the same for a given adventure; these novelizations are just one possible path. Ultimately, one has to evaluate this kind of tale in its appropriate context. These D&D novelizations are really, in my mind at any rate, the Harlequin romance of fantasy: light, easy fluff; a quick read with little or no mental gymnastics. This is not Moorcock or Leiber or Zelazny. Compared to those guys, this rates maybe a single star, if that. But taken in the context of the TSR fiction genre, I give this a 4 stars; I actually thought about the story a little after having finished it, to review it now that I knew the real "chant", as it were. Similar to how you thought about the Sixth Sense (movie) after you knew the punchline (but not that good! :-). Finally, compared to the others I've read, it's better than White Plume, Temple of Elemental Evil and Descent Into Depths of the Earth (even though these were enjoyable). I even feel that it's as good as the original Dragonlance novels, but different and of course shorter (only one book, not six, or however many there were); with less heroic polish and a bit more edge -- exactly what I would expect from a Planescape setting as compared to a "traditional" D&D setting.
Rating:
Summary: Fun romp through the Planescape
Review: At first I was wary of buying this book, after trying to read the terrible novelization of Baldur's Gate. But gladly, this book claimed my attention and kept me reading all the way to the end. It's not just a cliffhanger-solution pattern of chapters as some have said. It read to me like a fun, easy, very enjoyable escape. No, It's not great literature, but it is better than one would expect from a simple novelization of a computer game. I think it stands fine as a novel by itself. The closer you get to the end, the longer your reading periods become as you want to find out what happens to Thane. One thing I didn't like was some of the characters were killed and the end could use something more. What happens to Morte? The other characters? It's as if it calls for a sequal, which I would love to see. This is a nice, fun, easy read and I recommend it to someone who wants a little escape.
Rating:
Summary: Fun romp through the Planescape
Review: At first I was wary of buying this book, after trying to read the terrible novelization of Baldur's Gate. But gladly, this book claimed my attention and kept me reading all the way to the end. It's not just a cliffhanger-solution pattern of chapters as some have said. It read to me like a fun, easy, very enjoyable escape. No, It's not great literature, but it is better than one would expect from a simple novelization of a computer game. I think it stands fine as a novel by itself. The closer you get to the end, the longer your reading periods become as you want to find out what happens to Thane. One thing I didn't like was some of the characters were killed and the end could use something more. What happens to Morte? The other characters? It's as if it calls for a sequal, which I would love to see. This is a nice, fun, easy read and I recommend it to someone who wants a little escape.
Rating: 
Summary: Ravel can see my Torment
Review: At one point in Torment (the game), Ravel Puzzelwell, an infamous legendary Night Hag who has granted the curse of immortality on the Nameless one looks mockingly into the heart of both him and the hearts of his five companions. Nameless, as she explains acts as a loadstone for tormented souls, all the characters who have followed him thus far are "tormented" to some degreee as well. Each has an internal conflict, and Ravel with her demented but nontheless truthful vision sees the faults and torments of each character: Dak'kon the grimly silent but obedient githzerai is bound to the service of the Nameless one through an old and forgotten debt. Annah, the bitchy but lovable teifling girl, finds herself mysteriously drawn to scarred and leathery man, although this revelation confuses and frightens rather than reassures her. Fall-from-grace, the reformed succubus, also finds that the Nameless one inspires her sympathy, although in turning away from her inherent dark nature she suffers as well. Nordom, the rogue modron, has lived in a world of perfect order until he deviated from the norm in his home. His assured and robotic voice hides is an increasingly confused being behind it. Even Morte, the goofy floating skull, with a wry and sometimes raunchy sense of humor, is stricken with guilt about a past event so distand he doesn't even remember it. Yet now his innate cowardace is his achilles heel. Now, I suppose, if I were traveling with the Nameless one and his motley crew of friends, what would Ravel see in me? What is my torment? Very recently, I had played a turly phenominal game called Planescape: Torment. I revelled in world so fascinating and descriptive, with characters so real and outlandish at the same time, and lived vicariously as complex and tragic figure, a heavily scarred immortal amnesiac who wanders the planes in search of his identity. Games have made me laugh before, but never have made me laugh so hard. And never before had a game made me cry. Never before had I felt such a feeling of dread, despair, and morbid fascination. In short, the experience of Torment is like reading a gripping novel. Not this one, that is. Then I found out that someone had written a novel of this game, so I had to submit to my own curiosity. I expected it to altered somewhat, but for 240 pages this book mechanically toils away and underminds everything about the game it possibly can. The end result: a fast-paced, user-friendly, watered-down, slipshod, juvenile carigature that completely destroys the best elements of the game. Even from the beginning the starts off on the wrong foot. Gone are the vivid descriptions, characterizations, startling revelations, subtlties, and in short scope of the game. Worse than that, the book is badly and hastily written besides. The emotional edge is lost as well as much of the imagery, for the book relentlessly nods away and proceeds, leaving little room for thought. This creates a sense of detatchment and even indifference on behalf of the reader. The story contained within this almost completely incongruous to that of the game, it's as if a sheet of paper was sent to authors within a weeks notice containing only a few vital names characters (The Nameless one, who is referred to as "Thane", Annah, Morte, Fall-from-grace, Dak'kon (who look nothing like how they did from the game), Pharod, etc.). Several of the most interesting locations and characters in the game, such as the Dismembered Crypt, the Warrens of Thought, The Alley of Lingering Sighs, The Brothel of Slating Intellectual Lusts, the Rubikon Testing grounds, the Lady of Pain's maze, the Maloseum, Deionarra, Nordom, Ignus, Vhailor and countless others are completely absent. Although they are familiar with the Planescape universe, it is impossible to assume, or even hypothesize that the authors ever played the game. That alone will be evident after reading the first chapter or two. Therefore, nothing of quality remains in this choked story. It is an injustice of the worst sort (even Vhailor might agree with me on this). I wonder if anyone ever read the book before it was shipped. If you've played Torment, you will regret the experience. If you you have NOT played Torment, then I urge you--no I beg you--go out and buy the game. Or borrow it from a friend at least. Don't bother reading this book. Don't make eye contact with it. In fact, don't even finish reading this review. Even if someone had simply received a copy of the script and all it's countless ramifications from Black Isle and turned it into a book, it would be a much better read than this. (Come to think of it, I would like to see that . . .) There is way to make this material work in book form, though it would hardly be neccisary. If you truly wish to turn Torment into a novel, then for God's sake, I'll have you know that 90% of your dialogue and even descriptions have already been done for you in the game. Otherwise, it makes this book seem even more pointless. Typically, novelizations of narrative-impaired games such as DOOM work for novels, because the authors are free to incorporate their own story encompassing the theme of the game and building on, rather than undermining those elements that made the game so memorable (and by conicidence, I'm being very fair when I state that the DOOM novels are much better than the novelization of Torment, even if you are to read them without prior knowledge of the games). Torment, however is a fluke in the fact that it is the exact opposite. They should have known better.
Rating:
Summary: Worst book ever, seriously. . .
Review: First, the rating is not 'one star', it's a poor substitution for zero stars, since that was not an option. Ok, this isn't the WORST book ever, it just seems that way compared to the game. The game WAS the BEST game ever, with an incredible storyline, fantastic characters and graphics, and it relied more on storytelling and roleplaying than mindless combat. I was so disappointed with how this book took so many aspects of the game that made it so great and mangled them like the scars on the Nameless One (or Thane, as the novel moronically tags him). Annah, a fat, ugly little MAGE? Ravel, a nice old grandma, rather than evil demigod? A stupid green cylinder rather than the enigmatic bronze sphere? WTF?! Anyway, if you actually plan on reading this atrocity (I dunno why you ever would), get the game first; that masterpiece is ruined if this pile of dung is perused prior. Or actually, just get the game, period.
Rating:
Summary: Bad writing ruins a good story
Review: How come the story was so brilliant in the computer game, and yet this novel is so bad? Is this story too big to fit into a book? Does it have too many scenes? Does the game end up providing you with vastly more background than a book ever can? Is user-interaction a key part of the story? "No", I think the answer must be: a good book of the story is possible. But this novel is not it. This novel is just badly written. The book is bad, and far worse than the original computer game. The story in the computer game was mature, sophisticated, complex and intruiging; but the book in most ways seems targetted at 8-14 year olds. The sophisticated story is in conflict with the childish writing. I had bought the book hoping to have some of the beautiful, dramatic scenes from the game played out in full -- such as the memory from Dionarra's stone, for instance. But the book manages to fit only a (remarkably) small number of events and scenes in its 240 pages, and in an unusual choice it has included the boring events and omitted the dramatic ones. There is an interesting problem: how on earth can you write a novel in which the main character has no name? The book struggles clumsily with this stylistic problem, eventually naming him "Thane" at the end of chapter 3. The authors seem to have written it as a 'soap book'. Every single chapter ends on a cliff-hanger, which is invariably resolved within 3/4 of the first page of the new chapter. It gives the book an unexciting tick-tick-tick periodic pace, like a metronome. I can't imagine why they did it. The book's dialog and characterisation are irritating. The hero, Thane, has been given mind of an awkward, innocent 12-13 year old -- struggling with adolescent falling-in-love, with trying to make sense of the world and other people. This is incongruous given his role in the story. Annah speaks in irritatingly over-the-top Dickensian slang. Dakkon has the speech and mannerisms of a late-20th-century rational liberal humanist. The book is filled with these things: descriptions of the world as if it were a wholly new thing to Thane as though he were innocent and adolescent; and awkward conversation that expresses over and over again Thane's internal uncertainties. Thane in the book reminds me a lot of Rincewind from Terry Pratchet's Discworld novels -- because of his adolescence, and because he is an unpowerful character, always running away from things, never having a clue about what is happening or why. He doesn't have any of the remarkable, insightful dialog from the game; when he defeats his nemesis it is by clumsy accident. (Unfortunately this book exhibits none of Pratchet's humour). To a large extent, the book's dynamics are in accord with its protrayal of the hero: the chapters and events sweep past, with the hero an impotent and perplexed participant, passive. The reader is also perplexed and impotent. The book's 17 events (one per chapter!) are like a fairground ride going past different scenery -- neither the hero nor the reader have no idea why, or how, or what comes next, and nor can they really engage with the events or shape them.
Rating:
Summary: A review on itself
Review: I have not played the game, but I have been playing the Planescape setting of AD&D since it was launched. In that context, I can't compare the novel to the game, but the book to the book itself. It's Planescape down to the bones. It vividly shows the feel of the setting. Even if it's aimed at teen and pre-teen readers (it's very easy to read), I found it a pleasure of enjoyment. If you like fantasy, give it a try. It's more than worth.
Rating: 
Summary: Real Fantasy...
Review: I liked this book. Story is very good and rare, i never get bored while reading , a full of fast action and unexpected scenes inside, fantasy fans must definitely read ....
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